MRI-R2: Acquisition of a Confocal Raman Microscope

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)获得的。利用重大研究仪器(MRI)计划颁发的这一奖项，加州大学欧文分校(UCI)化学系的Vartkess A.Apkarian教授及其同事Rachel Martin、Reginald M.Penner和Eric Potma将获得一台共焦拉曼显微镜，以促进NSF化学创新中心和UCI太阳能中心的研究。该仪器将广泛用于制备新材料、太阳能电池纳米结构器件、基于纳米管和纳米线平台的单分子器件、纳米催化剂、多晶水合物和蛋白质聚集体的分子表征。这些都是多相样品的例子，其中分子组成和功能随着空间的不同而变化很大。共焦拉曼显微镜是一种高度灵活的仪器，主要用于非均匀样品的非破坏性化学表征。拉曼光谱可以用来识别分子结构和环境。共聚焦拉曼显微镜产生样品的图像，由空间分辨率为1微米的光谱组成。该仪器将是两个研究中心教学和研究活动的组成部分，此外还将服务于UCI更广泛的研究社区。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program Professor Vartkess A. Apkarian and colleagues Rachel Martin, Reginald M. Penner and Eric Potma from the Department of Chemistry at the University of California-Irvine (UCI) will acquire a confocal Raman microscope to facilitate research at the NSF Center for Chemical Innovation on Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit and the UCI Center for Solar Energy. The instrument will be broadly utilized for the molecular characterization of fabricated novel materials, nano-structured devices for solar cells, single molecule devices based on nano-tube and nano-wire platforms, nano-catalysts, polycrystalline hydrates and protein aggregates. These are all examples of heterogeneous specimens in which molecular composition and function greatly vary with space.A confocal Raman microscope is a highly flexible instrument, principally used for the non-destructive chemical characterization of heterogeneous specimens. Raman spectra allow the identification of molecular structure and environment. The confocal Raman microscope produces images of specimens, consisting of spectra obtained with a spatial resolution of 1 micrometer. The instrument will be an integral part teaching and research activities of two research centers and will in addition serve the broader research communities at UCI.